Atchison County, Missouri

Atchison County, Missouri
Location in the state of Missouri
Missouri's location in the U.S.
Founded	February, 1845
Named for	David Rice Atchison, U.S. Senator from Missouri
Seat	Rock Port
Largest city	Tarkio
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	547.36 sq mi (1,418 km²) 544.72 sq mi (1,411 km²) 2.64 sq mi (7 km²), 0.48
Population  - (2000)  - Density	6,430 12/sq mi (5/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.atchisoncounty.org/

Atchison County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2010, the population was 5,685. Its county seat is Rock Port. The county was organized in 1845 and named for David Rice Atchison, U.S. Senator from Missouri.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 547.36 square miles (1,417.7 km²), of which 544.72 square miles (1,410.8 km²) (or 99.52%) is land and 2.64 square miles (6.8 km²) (or 0.48%) is water.

Adjacent counties

• Fremont County, Iowa (north)
• Page County, Iowa (northeast)
• Nodaway County (east)
• Holt County (south)
• Richardson County, Nebraska (southwest)
• Nemaha County, Nebraska (west)
• Otoe County, Nebraska (northwest)

Major highways

• Interstate 29
• U.S. Route 59
• U.S. Route 136
• U.S. Route 275
• Route 46
• Route 111

Notable residents

• Michael J. Burg - Actor
• Zel Fischer - Missouri Supreme Court judge.
• Sam Graves - U.S. Congressman for Missouri.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	16,501		—
1910	13,604		−17.6%
1920	13,008		−4.4%
1930	13,421		3.2%
1940	12,897		−3.9%
1950	11,127		−13.7%
1960	9,213		−17.2%
1970	9,240		0.3%
1980	8,605		−6.9%
1990	7,457		−13.3%
2000	6,430		−13.8%
2010	5,685		−11.6%

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,430 people, 2,722 households, and 1,777 families residing in the county. The population density was 12 people per square mile (5/km²). There were 3,103 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.00% White, 2.05% Black or African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.31% from other races, and 0.31% from two or more races. 0.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,722 households out of which 26.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.80% were married couples living together, 6.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.70% were non-families. 31.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 24.20% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 21.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 99.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,959, and the median income for a family was $38,279. Males had a median income of $27,468 versus $18,855 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,956. About 9.30% of families and 11.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.70% of those under age 18 and 12.40% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Cities

• Fairfax (638)
• Rock Port (1,318)
• Tarkio (1,583)
• Westboro (141)

Villages

• Watson (100)

Unincorporated towns

• Langdon

Townships

Atchison County is divided into eleven townships:

Benton Buchanan Clark Clay

Colfax Dale Lincoln Nishnabotna

Polk Tarkio Templeton

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Atchison County, Missouri

External links

• Digitized 1930 Plat Book of Atchison County from University of Missouri Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books